Fallen soldier honored on 2002 holiday ornament

GREENCASTLE, Pa. - Cpl. William Rihl, a soldier in the First New York Cavalry, has the dubious distinction of being the first Union soldier killed in Pennsylvania in the Civil War, but he has not been forgotten by the people in the Greencastle area.

Local residents erected a granite marker to Rihl's memory near the spot where he was gunned down in a Rebel ambush June 22, 1863, about a mile north of the Greencastle borough line on U.S. 11 North. This year they named a road after him, a short strip of blacktop that connects Bemisderfer Road with the new extended Grindstone Hill Road.

Rihl will be the subject of the Greencastle-Antrim Chamber of Commerce's 2002 Christmas tree ornament.

Dana Given, the Chamber's executive director, said 300 ornaments have been ordered this year, the 11th year that the Chamber has sold them.

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They have become popular with local families who collect them, Given said. Most of the ornaments are numbered and families like to buy them with the same number year to year, she said.

All but 50 of the 300 ornaments will be numbered, Given said. A local engraver does the work.

The deadline for ordering is Nov. 18. "This way I can order more if we run out," Given said.

Residents have to order in advance to guarantee that their ornament has the number they want, she said.

The cost for each ornament is $17 plus tax. They will be available after mid-November in the Chamber of Commerce office at 217 E. Baltimore St.

For each of the past 11 years, the Chamber has selected a scene depicting some historic event or structure in the local area.